tag:www.portlandmonthlymag.com,2005:/news-and-profiles/culture/feedCulture2015-06-22T08:00:00-07:00tag:www.portlandmonthlymag.com,2005:Article/124402015-06-22T08:00:00-07:002015-06-22T08:00:00-07:00Inside Portland's Oldest Cohousing Community<figure class="c-align--center c-media c-media--image mceNonEditable" data-entity-class="image" data-entity-id="46300" data-entity-method="embed" data-image-align="center" data-image-caption="" data-image-selection='{"width":3000,"height":1839,"x1":0,"y1":0,"x2":3000,"y2":1839}'><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_1839,w_3000,x_0,y_0/c_limit,w_1080/v1434496038/0715-sunlight-holding-co-01_euk1cj.jpg" alt=""><figcaption class="mceNonEditable">
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<p>As the residents of Sunlight Holding Co gather for dinner, the vibe is as balanced as day and night on the vernal equinox. At the end of a long afternoon, more than 30 residents, old and new, trade stories of the past and aspirations for the future. Swapping cheeses and dips on a deck, they gossip about the facilitator they hired but, as it turned out, didn’t really need. (One resident suggested the facilitator was trying to solve problems that didn’t exist.)</p>
<p>On a south-facing forested hillside rising from a creek, this cohousing community has evolved since its first 15 families arrived in 1979. Back then, children outnumbered adults in the shed-roofed, cedar-board-and-batten-clad enclave. They grew up and moved on, followed by their parents. Newcomers showed up, and now kids—just eight of them—are filling the air with hollers and the paths with toys. Meanwhile, “The Community”—a term all residents imbue with the authority of a proper noun—has remained strong and mostly conflict-free. “It’s not as if everyone is my close friend,” says Stephanie Sussman, who arrived at Sunlight with husband Stephen in 1982, sold her unit to their son in 2000, then bought it back in 2009. “But there isn’t one person who wouldn’t be there if I needed them.”</p>
<figure class="c-align--center c-media c-media--image mceNonEditable" data-entity-class="image" data-entity-id="46301" data-entity-method="embed" data-image-align="center" data-image-caption="CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT:
Sunlight Holding Co’s 15 homes sit on 15 acres of forested hillside; cofounder Dorothy Dixon; families gather at a monthly potluck" data-image-selection='{"width":1000,"height":1408,"x1":0,"y1":0,"x2":1000,"y2":1408}'><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_1408,w_1000,x_0,y_0/c_limit,w_1080/v1434496339/0715-SunlightHoldingCo-02_rorpey.jpg" alt=""><figcaption class="mceNonEditable">
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<p>CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Sunlight Holding Co’s 15 homes sit on 15 acres of forested hillside; cofounder Dorothy Dixon; families gather at a monthly potluck</p>
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<p>Image: <a class="attribution-link" href="/producers/aubrie-legault">Aubrie Legault</a></p>
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<p>Cohousing’s growing appeal trades on concerns and aspirations that are part ’60s counterculture, part ’00s “sharing economy,” and bound into the American DNA all the way back to Plymouth Rock. In various ways, people who embrace cohousing share space, make decisions collectively, and otherwise try to meld community with the private life of home and hearth. The Washington state–based Cohousing Association lists more than 100 cohousing communities nationwide, with more than 80 under way. Locally, they range from mixed-generational developments like Trillium Hollow near Cedar Mill, started in 1998, to newer, übersustainable tracts like Buckman’s recently completed Ankeny Row. </p>
<p>Sunlight has proven remarkably durable among such experiments, but has also steered away from the ideology that sometimes drives cohousing. “We never started with an ‘ism’ or a shared belief,” says cofounder Alice McCartor, a retired social worker. “Nobody came seeking a leader. We were all middle class and relatively successful. We wanted nothing other than the fun of sharing.” </p>
<p>The idea for Sunlight began in a series of potluck dinners among a close-knit group of young families living in what cofounder Dorothy “Dot” Dixon calls “the liberal bastion” of Willamette Heights. At the time, most were members of Lifespring, a ’70s-era consciousness-raising group. But Dixon, like McCartor, now laughs about their long-ago faddishness. In retrospect, both agree Lifespring was only what brought them together—not what inspired them. “We wondered why we needed these big houses,” Dixon recalls. “We imagined that we could pool resources, that maybe we didn’t need 15 lawnmowers. But we didn’t want too many rules.” Dixon still recalls one founder’s spontaneous manifesto with a chuckle: “I don’t want to live anywhere where I have to ask to fart—this is supposed to be <em>fun</em>.”</p>
<p>Two architects—John Maslin and William Church—were part of the group, both of them interested in passive-solar design. They secured a 15-acre site off of NW Skyline Boulevard, sold off seven acres, and made plans to cluster their homes on five acres to keep the forest and the creek running through it pristine. The architects took some inspiration from land-hugging, barnlike simplicity of the Sea Ranch, the iconic, ’60s-era coastal California community designed by Charles Moore, Lawrence Halprin, and others. They lined up 15 homes in two rows along a main street they dubbed “Lois Lane.” They built a simple “great hall”—ceiling vaulted, of course—for monthly potlucks and other gatherings, but also equipped with a guest room and a workshop. Residents share tools, an exercise room, and a wood shop. Each unit is freestanding, fronted by a two-story solarium with concrete floors that absorb the winter sun’s warmth. Vents beneath draw air into other rooms. </p>
<p class="sidebar-right" style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>“I feel so fortunate to live with people of different ages.” <br><br> —Dorothy Dixon</strong></em></p>
<p>From their first brainstorming sessions in 1977, the founders made “decision by consensus” a bedrock rule. One of the earliest of many debates was over the homes’ exterior colors. “There were the grays and browns,” recalls Dixon. “We finally just decided to let the architects decide. We got gray.” </p>
<p>Officially, a condo board governs Sunlight. But Sussman says that’s mostly to satisfy banks loaning to buyers. One longtime resident, an accountant, keeps the books. The board meets only to manage projects and share concerns. The only other regular meeting is the Fun Committee, which arranges monthly dinners, birthday and anniversary parties, and two annual solstice parties. All concede that the process can be agonizing but agree they wouldn’t have it any other way. “It allows everyone to be a creator,” says McCartor. “New families come in and bring new energy. We go down one road with one group, another with another.”</p>
<p class="sidebar-wide"><strong><em>“There isn’t one person who wouldn’t be there if I needed them.”</em> —Stephanie Sussman </strong></p>
<p>Perhaps no new residents have pushed through greater changes faster than Brooklynites Michael Wheeler and Linda Brown, who, with kids Ryley, 11, and Alice, 8, bought into Sunlight after looking at pictures online. Brown, a telecommuter to New York’s American Museum of Natural History, introduced the Audubon Society’s “Backyard Habitat” program to the Sunlight community, earning her own certification while encouraging others to do the same. Wheeler, an urban winery co-owner, spent months negotiating support for a community-owned tree house. Despite planning to locate it well away from the homes, hiring noted tree house designer Ian Weedman, and building it at his own expense, consensus took months. “Nothing is just embraced,” says Wheeler. </p>
<figure class="c-align--center c-media c-media--image mceNonEditable" data-entity-class="image" data-entity-id="46303" data-entity-method="embed" data-image-align="center" data-image-caption="CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Stephen and Stephanie Sussman; residents gather around the Sussmans’ table; bright front doors provide splashes of personality" data-image-selection='{"width":1310,"height":1862,"x1":0,"y1":0,"x2":1310,"y2":1862}'><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_1862,w_1310,x_0,y_0/c_limit,w_1080/v1434497022/0715-SunlightHoldingCo-03_a3r32q.jpg" alt=""><figcaption class="mceNonEditable">
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<p>CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Stephen and Stephanie Sussman; residents gather around the Sussmans’ table; bright front doors provide splashes of personality</p>
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<p>Longtime residents recall the decision that most challenged the consensus ideal: trees. Despite the community’s design and name, over the years tree growth had shaded many homes’ passive solar performance and access to natural light. But trees are a communal property, and the anti-cut contingent won. Frustrated, one family left—a rare break in a near flawless record of finding a path, however hard, for all.</p>
<p>Yet, unlike some cohousing communities that vote, up or down, on aspiring residents, anybody can buy a unit at Sunlight. Recent prices have hovered around $380,000 for a three-bedroom unit, with monthly fees at a minimal $130. The residents span the spectrum from retirees like McCartor and Dixon to couples with children to a single mom. “There seems to be a natural selection,” says Dixon. </p>
<p>For all the interactivity implied by the label “cohousing,” Sunlight feels more like a resort than a commune. A parking lot and cluster of individual garden plots sit near the street well above the units. Front doors face the steps that meander down the hillside, each offering the only departures the bylaws grant from the gray cedar cladding: reds, blues, and browns, house numbers in wildly different fonts, knickknacks like tiled balls, metal flowers, Celtic figurines, and, in one case, a very large American flag. (“When it first went up,” says Stephanie Sussman, “a lot of us went, ‘Oh my. Nobody’s done <em>that</em> before.’”) </p>
<p>Annie Scott, who joined Sunlight last year with husband Tim, a retired Oregon Symphony cellist, sums up the ethos: “It’s cohousing for introverts.” </p>
<figure class="c-align--center c-media c-media--image mceNonEditable" data-entity-class="image" data-entity-id="46304" data-entity-method="embed" data-image-align="center" data-image-caption="FROM LEFT: Children have often outnumbered the adults at Sunlight; recent arrivals Michael Wheeler and Linda Brown with their kids, Alice and Ryley" data-image-selection='{"width":1207,"height":1000,"x1":0,"y1":0,"x2":1207,"y2":1000}'><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_1000,w_1207,x_0,y_0/c_limit,w_1080/v1434497535/0715-SunlightHoldingCo-04_yxhktg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption class="mceNonEditable">
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<p>FROM LEFT: Children have often outnumbered the adults at Sunlight; recent arrivals Michael Wheeler and Linda Brown with their kids, Alice and Ryley</p>
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<p>Image: <a class="attribution-link" href="/producers/aubrie-legault">Aubrie Legault</a></p>
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<p class="sidebar-right" style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>“We wanted nothing other than the fun of sharing” </strong></em><br><br><strong> —Alice McCartor</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">At the monthly potluck dinner, youthful yelps intermingle with adult murmurs. “I feel so fortunate to live with people of different ages,” says Dixon. “There’s something creepy about everybody being the same.”</p>
<p>Just steps from the well-worn teahouse, the new tree house, and a freshly installed zip line, a recent addition designed for the future stands: a circle of 15 stone slabs, deeply engraved with simple runes, representing each household. For newcomers, old-timers, New York sophisticates, and natives alike, Sunlight’s easygoing architecture seems designed for a long horizon. </p>
<p>“Everyone moves on from this planet,” says Wheeler. “But the community? It wants to go on for generation after generation after generation.” </p>Founded by 15 families in 1971, Sunlight Holding Co takes the concept of community and a "sharing economy" to the next level.Founded by 15 families in 1971, Sunlight Holding Co takes the concept of community and a "sharing economy" to the next level.http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_981,w_981,x_310,y_0/c_limit,w_640/0715-sunlight-holding-co-01_euk1cj.jpgHOME DESIGNAllison Jonestag:www.portlandmonthlymag.com,2005:Article/124032015-05-26T08:00:00-07:002015-05-26T08:00:00-07:00The Story Behind the "Actors, Models & Talent For Christ" Billboards<figure class="c-align--right c-media c-media--image mceNonEditable" data-entity-class="image" data-entity-id="45631" data-entity-method="embed" data-image-align="right" data-image-caption="" data-image-selection='{"width":610,"height":723,"x1":0,"y1":0,"x2":610,"y2":723}'><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_723,w_610,x_0,y_0/c_limit,w_640/v1431640714/0615-production-jesus_omantn.jpg"><figcaption class="mceNonEditable"><div class="c-media__attributions mceNonEditable"><p>Image: <a class="attribution-link" href="/producers/amy-martin">Amy Martin</a></p></div></figcaption></figure>
<p>One spring Saturday in room C123 of the Oregon Convention Center, about 100 wannabe stars are preparing for their big break. Singers warm up their voices, dancers stretch, actors rehearse scripts, and one hopeful switches on the LED headphones on his T-shirt. Then, together, they bow their heads.</p>
<p>“I bet you didn’t think you were going to church today,” talent scout Scott Hamilton tells the group.</p>
<p>Actors, Models &amp; Talent for Christ came to Portland looking for performers aged 4 and up to bring God to the godless entertainment industry and harness the global reach of American media to spread the gospel. The nonprofit holds about 100 such field events nationwide every year, bringing together some 10,000 performers. </p>
<p>The Georgia-based “talent development ministry” wasn’t always Christian. Founded in 1982 as the secular Actors, Models &amp; Talent <em>Competition</em>, the agency helped launch the careers of Mena Suvari (<em>American Beauty</em>) and Megan Fox (<em>Transformers</em>). In 2007, AMTC founder Carey Lewis found Christ. Her family—AMTC’s leadership—followed, and they were baptized together in 2008. </p>
<p>AMTC travels the country holding auditions for its biannual Shine conference in Orlando, where pious performers mingle with 50–100 working agents and attend seminars on runway walking and “creating your brand.” At the most recent conference, <br> leaders also baptized 40 attendees in a hotel swimming pool.</p>
<p>“It’s where New York polish meets the hand of God,” says AMTC executive director Adam She. </p>
<p>John Owens, a 23-year-old groundskeeper who lives in Southeast Portland, came to the audition after seeing one of AMTC’s four Portland billboards. (“We like to do billboards because it’s kind of a spiritual thing,” says She. “We like to see AMTC placed on high.”) Now, watching a video presentation (a past <em>American Idol </em>contestant talks about learning how to market himself; one woman says, “I’ve found my people!”), Owens holds back tears.</p>
<p>“It’s everything I’ve dreamed of,” says Owens, whose rendition of “Let Them See You,” by Christian rock group JJ Weeks Band, impressed the scouts and scored him an invite to Shine. </p>
<p>With a suggested entrance fee of $4,995 plus travel expenses, attending Shine is not cheap. But Owens is determined to be among the dozen Portlanders in Orlando later this year by raising funds from friends, family, and his church. He dreams of performing in a rock and worship road show at the Moda Center.</p>
<p>Will six days in Orlando shoot Owens to stardom? </p>
<p>Says Owens of his chances: “I have hopes and prayers that something will work out.” </p>The Christian agency launched the career of Megan Fox and Mina Suvari—could a pious Portlander be next?The Christian agency launched the career of Megan Fox and Mina Suvari—could a pious Portlander be next?http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_610,w_610,x_0,y_56/c_limit,w_640/0615-production-jesus_omantn.jpgMEDIA ON HIGHAllison Jonestag:www.portlandmonthlymag.com,2005:Article/123862015-05-26T08:00:00-07:002015-05-26T08:00:00-07:00Looking Back on 40 Years of Portland Pride<figure class="c-align--center c-media c-media--image mceNonEditable" data-entity-class="image" data-entity-id="45690" data-entity-method="embed" data-image-align="center" data-image-caption="" data-image-selection='{"width":1000,"height":1290,"x1":0,"y1":0,"x2":1000,"y2":1290}'><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_1290,w_1000,x_0,y_0/c_limit,w_1080/v1431978352/0615-portlandpride_mnzfyj.jpg" alt=""><figcaption class="mceNonEditable">
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<p>Forty years after a small, brave group marked the Rose City’s first public Gay Pride celebration, the Portland Pride Festival has become summer’s unofficial kickoff: a colossal street party open to all. As we approach this year’s fête (June 13–14), we look back on four colorful decades of Pride: a powerful journey toward the freedom to love and live.*</p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">1975</em> About 200 people attend Portland’s first outdoor public Gay Pride celebration, in the South Park Blocks near Portland State University. </p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">1976</em> Anne and Bill Shepherd and Charles and Rita Knapp launch Parents of Gays (POG), later to become the Portland chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) Portland. They set up a table at the Gay Pride rally.</p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">1976</em> Lesbian activist Kathleen Saadat organizes Portland’s first Gay Pride march.</p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">1977</em> Portland Mayor Neil Goldschmidt issues a proclamation for Gay Pride Day. </p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">1980</em> Mark Richards, Mark Jones, and Gary Coleman form the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus, which performs its first concert at Pride. </p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">1982</em> Portlanders Terry Bean, Jerry Weller, John Baker, Keeston Lowery, and Dana Weinstein start a new political fundraising organization called Right to Privacy (later called Right to Pride). </p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">1983</em> Two years after the first reported case of AIDS in Oregon, Reese House, Brown MacDonald, and others form Cascade AIDS Project (CAP) to support gay and bisexual men affected by HIV and AIDS.</p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">1983</em> <em>Just Out</em> publishes its first issue. </p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">1984</em> Bud Clark, a strong straight ally of the gay community, is elected mayor. He campaigns and celebrates at the Dirty Duck, a gay bar.</p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">1985</em> Newly elected Oregon Secretary of State Barbara Roberts requests the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus sing at her inauguration.</p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">1987</em> Lady Elaine Peacock hosts the first of many “Peacock in the Park” drag pageants in Washington Park. The event raises money for Audria M. Edwards Youth Scholarship Fund. </p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">1989</em> The first LGBT-sponsored float appears in the Rose Festival’s Starlight Parade.</p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">1991</em> Gail Shibley becomes the first openly gay person to serve in the Oregon House of Representatives. </p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">1992</em> Conservative Christian political organization the Oregon Citizens Alliance (OCA) sponsors Measure 9, the first of many initiatives to amend the Oregon Constitution to prevent “special rights” for homosexuals and bisexuals. The measure fails, and groups formed in opposition become the basis for the next two decades of the state’s LGBT rights movement.</p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">1994</em> Portland’s Lesbian Avengers stage the city’s first-ever Dyke March.</p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">1996</em> Basic Rights Oregon (BRO) is incorporated after evolving from an organization that formed to oppose Measure 13, another anti-LGBT ballot measure promoted by the OCA. </p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">1996</em> Chastity Bono serves as the Pride parade’s grand marshal. </p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">1998</em> In <em>Tanner v. OHSU</em>, the Oregon Court of Appeals rules that all state and local governments must offer spousal benefits to same-sex domestic partners. (The ruling also prohibits private employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation in hiring, <br> firing, and pay.)</p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">2003</em> Rives Kistler is appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court, becoming the first openly gay state supreme court justice in the United States. </p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">2004</em> The Defense of Marriage Coalition’s Measure 36 passes, amending the Oregon Constitution with the following text: “It is the policy of Oregon, and its political subdivisions, that only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or legally recognized as a marriage.”</p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">2004</em> Sam Adams is elected to Portland City Council. He is the first openly gay person elected to a public office of the City of Portland. </p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">2005</em> A group of community activists, including Adams, help to incorporate the LGBTQ Community Center Fund—now known as Q Center—to provide a safe space to support and celebrate LGBT diversity, <br> equity, and visibility.</p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">2008</em> Democrat Kate Brown, who identifies as bisexual, is elected Oregon Secretary of State.</p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">2008</em> Adams is elected mayor of Portland, making Portland the largest city up to that time to elect an openly gay mayor.</p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">2008</em> Stu Rasmussen, who is transgender, is elected mayor of nearby Silverton, Oregon. </p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">2009</em> PFLAG Portland Black Chapter becomes the first PFLAG chapter in the country created by and for the black/African American community.</p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">2012</em> Oregon Representative Tina Kotek becomes Speaker of the House—the first openly lesbian leader of a state legislative chamber anywhere in the US.</p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">2013</em> Gov. John Kitzhaber signs House Bill 2093, making Oregon one of a handful of states to remove the surgery requirement for transgender Oregonians seeking a change on their birth certificate.</p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">2013</em> The Portland Thorns, Timbers, and Trail Blazers make history by becoming the first major pro sports teams to endorse a campaign for the freedom to marry. </p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">2014</em> The Pride Festival hosts its first official Portland Trans March.</p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">2014</em> US District Court Judge Michael McShane issues his decision in consolidated case <em>Geiger v. Kitzhaber</em>, ruling that Oregon’s 2004 ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional—the same day, plaintiffs Deanna Geiger and Janine Nelson become the first same-sex couple to wed with the court’s backing in Oregon.</p>
<p><em class="blue-bkgd">2015</em> Kate Brown becomes Oregon’s second female governor, and the first openly bisexual governor in US history.</p>
<p><em>*This timeline is largely drawn from the work of the Gay &amp; Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest (GLAPN), housed at the Oregon Historical Society and glapn.org.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Did we miss anything? Please help us add to our timeline in the comments below!</strong></p>As the Portland Pride Festival turns 40, we look back on four decades of courage, progress, and raucous good times.As the Portland Pride Festival turns 40, we look back on four decades of courage, progress, and raucous good times.http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_1000,w_1000,x_0,y_145/c_limit,w_640/0615-portlandpride_mnzfyj.jpgSUMMER GUIDE 2015Allison Jonestag:www.portlandmonthlymag.com,2005:Article/105982015-04-27T08:00:00-07:002015-04-27T08:00:00-07:00Viva La Radio! Portland's Mexican Culture is in the Air<figure class="c-align--center c-media c-media--image mceNonEditable" data-entity-class="image" data-entity-id="45069" data-entity-method="embed" data-image-align="center" data-image-caption="" data-image-selection='{"width":1000,"height":571,"x1":0,"y1":30,"x2":1000,"y2":601}'><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_571,w_1000,x_0,y_30/c_scale,w_1080/v1429136791/0515-radio_okl3ea.jpg"><figcaption class="mceNonEditable"><div class="c-media__attributions mceNonEditable"><p>Image: <a class="attribution-link" href="/producers/i-love-photo-shutterstock">I Love Photo / Shutterstock</a></p></div></figcaption></figure>
<p>After a broadcast from Mattress World in Salem, a woman approached Portland radio DJ Jenny “La Diva” Gutierrez with tears in her eyes. “Do you know how much this means to us,” she asked, “to hear your voice and to have people giving us information and caring?” </p>
<p class="sidebar-right"><strong>93.1 <span class="boldcaps">El ReY</span> <br> </strong><em>Family-friendly programming, with Northern Mexican music</em></p>
<p>Between 2000 and 2010, Portland’s Hispanic community grew by 63 percent, with 55,000 now living in the metro area, the vast majority of Mexican origin. And for Portland’s largest and fastest-growing minority population, radio is a vital link to the world at large. Up to 95 percent of US Hispanics tune in to the radio at least once a day—with small, regional Mexican-oriented stations drawing by far the most listeners. Oregon is now home to 14 Spanish-language stations, eight of them based around Portland. From a 1,550-watt station near Milwaukie, 93.1 FM El Rey beams its family-friendly shows from the coast to Hood River. </p>
<p class="sidebar-right"><strong>93.5 <span class="boldcaps">LA Grand</span></strong> <br> <em>Traditional Mexican music</em></p>
<p>“Back in Mexico you focus on one kind of people, one region,” says El Rey program director Carlos “El Aventurero” Tovías, who spent 13 years in radio in Reynosa, Mexico. “Here’s it’s totally different. Here you have a mixture of different communities.” While many listeners are bilingual, the audience relies on these stations for more than just the tunes. Programming covers a wide spectrum, from music and sports to community events and local job openings. Immigration and broader Hispanic issues are hot topics, and participatory comedy segments invite listeners to call in with their own jokes. </p>
<p class="sidebar-right"><strong>94.3 LA ZETA <br> </strong><em>Timbers coverage and<br> Top 40 music</em></p>
<p>“The Mexican community is very much attached to radio personalities,” says Amador Bustos, who runs several Oregon stations. “They’re the morning friend they wake up with and the friend they come home to. Listeners are loyal in Mexico, but even more so here. It makes them feel a little closer to home.”</p>Across Portland, radio links Portland's Hispanic community to the world at large.Across Portland, radio links Portland's Hispanic community to the world at large.http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_655,w_656,x_144,y_0/c_limit,w_640/0515-radio_okl3ea.jpgCULTUREAllison Jonestag:www.portlandmonthlymag.com,2005:Article/103652015-03-02T08:00:00-08:002015-03-02T08:00:00-08:00This Ain't Your Typical Treehouse<figure class="c-align--center c-media c-media--image mceNonEditable" data-entity-class="image" data-entity-id="44023" data-entity-method="embed" data-image-align="center" data-image-caption="Foster Huntington's treehouse in the Columbia River Gorge." data-image-selection='{"width":1000,"height":683,"x1":0,"y1":184,"x2":1000,"y2":867}'><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_683,w_1000,x_0,y_184/c_scale,w_1080/v1424477738/2015-03-Treehouse-PoMonthly_daodv3.jpg"><figcaption class="mceNonEditable"><div class="c-media__caption mceNonEditable"><p>Foster Huntington's treehouse in the Columbia River Gorge.</p></div>
<div class="c-media__attributions mceNonEditable"><p>Image: <a class="attribution-link" href="/producers/foster-huntington">Foster Huntington</a></p></div></figcaption></figure>
<p>Foster Huntington’s 8-year-old self would be proud.</p>
<p>Back then, you’d often find Huntington and his friends building tree houses in the backyard. With his home nestled 30 feet up a tree, things haven’t changed much for the 27-year-old. His grown-up playground on his family’s property on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge near Skamania (he won’t let us reveal exactly where) is complete with a skate park, a wood-fired hot tub, and a tree-lofted workshop.</p>
<p>Four years ago, Huntington left a designer job at Ralph Lauren in New York City to travel the country in his van and surf. “I didn’t want to spend my twenties sitting behind a desk,” he says.</p>
<p>Eventually, his aimless peregrinations brought him back to the Northwest, where, on a whim, he decided to fulfill his childhood dream. It took eight months, ideas and instructions from the Internet, and the help of some construction-savvy friends and family to get the tree house, dubbed “The Cinder Cone,” ready for Huntington to move in. Built from cedar and Doug fir, the tree house’s two sections each hold 198 square feet, including a cozy bedroom. Huntington will continue traveling half the year in his van, with the Cinder Cone serving as home base.</p>
<p>“It’s just like building any other cabin,” he says, “only it’s 30 feet off the ground.”</p>"It's just like building any other cabin, only it's 30 feet off the ground.""It's just like building any other cabin, only it's 30 feet off the ground."http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_1000,w_1000,x_0,y_0/c_limit,w_640/2015-03-Treehouse-PoMonthly_daodv3.jpgBIG PICTUREAllison Jonestag:www.portlandmonthlymag.com,2005:Article/103542015-03-02T08:00:00-08:002015-03-02T08:00:00-08:00A Native Portlander Returns to Find Her Hometown Radically Transformed<figure class="c-align--right c-media c-media--image mceNonEditable" data-entity-class="image" data-entity-id="43933" data-entity-method="embed" data-image-align="right" data-image-caption="" data-image-selection='{"width":708,"height":935,"x1":0,"y1":0,"x2":708,"y2":935}'><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_935,w_708,x_0,y_0/c_scale,w_640/v1424309980/amy-martin-portlandMonthly-tatoo_pjeamb.jpg"><figcaption class="mceNonEditable"><div class="c-media__attributions mceNonEditable"><p>Image: <a class="attribution-link" href="/producers/amy-martin">Amy Martin</a></p></div></figcaption></figure>
<p>Not long ago, I tried to give my Denver-bred husband an “insider’s tour” of Portland, the city where I was born and raised and which is, paradoxically, our new home. After 14 years on the East Coast, I thought I’d show him some landmarks, perhaps accompanied by a few witty childhood anecdotes.</p>
<p>Not so much. It was like our car was a time machine from 2000. Many of my go-to “landmarks” were irrelevant, while “new Portland” strongholds meant nothing to me. As we headed down East Burnside, we whizzed right past Le Pigeon, the Doug Fir, and Burnside Brewing Co without comment as I desperately searched for the only store I remembered on that stretch: Hippo Hardware. (It remains an awesome, quirky, old-Portland business, but probably isn’t what most people would point out to tourists.) I knew Hippo’s yellow-and-black columns would at least orient me in this strange, shiny new land, where once-desolate blocks suddenly offered $50 jersey-cotton T-shirts or restaurants name-checked by the <em>New York Times</em>.</p>
<p>I left in 2000 to attend college in New York state. I spent 10 years after college working as a journalist in Washington, DC. I also got married and had two daughters. It was fun to live in the District in my early 20s, but it got harder when we tried and failed to buy a house there, harder still when we had an infant and a toddler and no grandparents within thousands of miles.</p>
<p>So here we are. I had visited Portland dozens of times during my years away, so I had basic ideas about how the city had changed. Most telling was how East Coasters reacted when I told them I was from Portland. In 2000, I had to specify Oregon rather than Maine, and explain that I did not have to dodge cows while driving. By around 2007, people got this dreamy look and gushed, “I love Portland.” Every liberal twentysomething with a band was “about to move to Portland.” And there was something—but what?—going on with doughnuts.</p>
<p>For our first date night in town we had a great meal with a side of culture shock. My husband had done some Googling and informed me that the best restaurants were on East Burnside, SE Division, and NE Alberta. I laughed. (To cut myself a break, I should note that I grew up on the west side and only just moved to the east side, so most of these neighborhoods would feel new to me even if they had stayed the same for 14 years.) We chose Division and gawked at the fashion, especially since we were used to buttoned-up, government-worker Washington. At the Richmond Bar, I spent the whole time staring creepily at a couple: the guy had a full sleeve of tattoos, suspenders, and a handlebar mustache, and his girlfriend wore high-waisted, acid-washed denim shorts. After 10 years surrounded by Ann Taylor and Brooks Brothers, Portlandwear shocked me.</p>
<p>At home, I set up a compost/recycling center, only to hover over it many times a day holding garbage while I tried to make a decision. For better or for worse, it’s not this hard to throw away a napkin elsewhere. I discovered levels of ice-cream saltiness most of the nation—even in bastions of salty ice cream—has never seen.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, to a still-new parent, Portland’s distictively modern version of family-friendliness made for an excellent, unexpected discovery. My first visit to Hopworks Urban Brewery on SE Powell stunned me: three play areas, a monthly story hour called Tot Tuesday, and kids’ T-shirts that say “HUB 1/2 Pint.” I feel like my kids are suddenly not just tolerated but welcomed most places I go. I never heard of a café in DC with a play area. Here, even Les Schwab Tire Center has a kiddie table with crayons and paper.</p>
<p>This characteristic extends to the sidewalk. Cars are so diligent about yielding to pedestrians—especially when I’m with my kids—that I have to angle my stroller away from the street if I stop walking, or every car within a quarter mile slams on its brakes to allow us to cross.</p>
<p>So instead of the fourth-generation-Oregonian expert I thought I’d be, I am discovering Portland anew. And yet the city’s spirit feels unchanged: the modern guise of a hippie earnestness that’s always been here. I had to nix at least one preschool for being too hard-core vegan. One of my friends agonized to me about her chicken’s end-of-life plan.</p>
<p>Some things about this place I will always recognize: the trees are the right shapes; accents sound familiar. Meanwhile, elaborate tattoos are starting to look normal. My 3-year-old has learned to puddle-jump on our walk home from her (nonvegan) preschool. And I am so happy to be home that I could kiss our soggy ground.</p>After years away, a prodigal daughter comes back to a city of handlebar mustaches, salty ice cream, kid-friendly breweries, and vegan preschools. After years away, a prodigal daughter comes back to a city of handlebar mustaches, salty ice cream, kid-friendly breweries, and vegan preschools. http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_708,w_708,x_0,y_113/c_limit,w_640/amy-martin-portlandMonthly-tatoo_pjeamb.jpgESSAYAllison Jonestag:www.portlandmonthlymag.com,2005:Article/102742015-02-03T10:00:00-08:002015-02-03T10:00:00-08:00Will PNCA’s Landmark New HQ Spark a Renaissance in Old Town?<figure class="c-align--center c-media c-media--image mceNonEditable" data-entity-class="image" data-entity-id="43600" data-entity-method="embed" data-image-align="center" data-image-caption="" data-image-selection='{"width":1305,"height":800,"x1":0,"y1":0,"x2":1305,"y2":800}'><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_800,w_1305,x_0,y_0/c_scale,w_1080/v1422570648/0215-0215-120820-pnca-exterior_k8mmsh.jpg"><figcaption class="mceNonEditable"><div class="c-media__attributions mceNonEditable"><p>Image: <a class="attribution-link" href="/producers/courtesy-allied-works">Courtesy Allied Works</a></p></div></figcaption></figure>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 15px;">T</span><span class="s2" style="font-size: 15px;">om Manley</span><span style="font-size: 15px;">, the president of the Pacific Northwest College of Art, distinguishes between two educational models: programs and platforms. “Programs,” he says, cupping his hands like a bowl, “are like a pediatrics department at a hospital, geared to deal with one set of protocols really well. </span></p>
<p class="p4">“Platforms,” he continues, fingers stretching outward, “are like emergency rooms: you don’t know what’s coming in the door, and you have to be ready to improvise anything.” Manley has reshaped PNCA—and the college’s new digs in NW Broadway’s historic 511 Building—into a platform, he argues, for “an open-ended future.” PNCA will christen its headquarters with a late-winter party; classes begin February 2. </p>
<p class="p4">The building heralds a new phase for the city’s most prominent art college—and, potentially, a new creative center of gravity for Portland’s west side. The 511 will house specialized facilities you’d expect at an art school: printmaking, photography, painting, etc. But the former US Post Office, remodeled by noted local architecture firm Allied Works, will also feature flexible “lab” spaces, where students can invent projects tackling everything from new communications technologies to rising global temperatures to just earning a living. Above all, Manley hopes the college’s new HQ will leverage the resource he believes most distinguishes fast-growing PNCA from rivals like the Rhode Island School of Design or LA’s Art Center College of Design: Portland itself, via a web of urban and cultural connections anchored by the 511.</p>
<p class="section_title_line"><span class="s1"><strong>THE BUILDINg</strong></span></p>
<figure class="c-align--center c-media c-media--image mceNonEditable" data-entity-class="image" data-entity-id="43598" data-entity-method="embed" data-image-align="center" data-image-caption="" data-image-selection='{"width":1305,"height":800,"x1":0,"y1":0,"x2":1305,"y2":800}'><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_800,w_1305,x_0,y_0/c_scale,w_1080/v1422570648/0215-0215-atrium2-r-awa-1_zjguc9.jpg"><figcaption class="mceNonEditable"><div class="c-media__attributions mceNonEditable"><p>Image: <a class="attribution-link" href="/producers/courtesy-allied-works">Courtesy Allied Works</a></p></div></figcaption></figure>
<p class="p1">Completed in 1919 for “34 cents per cubic square foot”—6 cents less than a common office building of the time—the 511 Building is an unusual mix of pomp (bronze door surrounds, cast-plaster ornamental ceilings), industrial plainness, and near ecclesiastical natural light. The combination worked well for PNCA and its similarly modest $32 million remodel budget. </p>
<p class="p2">Best known for turning a paint warehouse into Wieden &amp; Kennedy’s breathtaking headquarters and a dreary New York office tower into the dynamic Museum of Arts &amp; Design, Allied Works “edited” the 511 Building, according to firm founder Brad Cloepfil. The firm stripped away a clumsy ’60s remodel, “weaving in” a new mezzanine suspended on a harp-like array of ¾-inch industrial steel cables. That element surrounds an atrium and a multiuse exhibition space. “We contrasted the new as more raw artist space,” Cloepfil says. “The contrast allows it to be owned by creative makers: a new life and architecture layered into the old.”</p>
<p class="p2">The second-floor New Commons promises the most excitement: bathed in northern light from five 78-foot-long industrial skylights, it’s a simple, square room in which anything can happen. “Allied’s approach to design,” says Manley, “is less about making your eyes pop than about creating culture.” Meanwhile, labs and an “innovation studio” will foster projects like a recent wearable technology collaboration and educational models aimed at reducing tuition costs. “A life of creative practice doesn’t stop with classes,” Manley says.</p>
<p class="section_title_line"><span class="s1"><strong>THE SCHOOL</strong></span></p>
<figure class="c-align--center c-media c-media--image mceNonEditable" data-entity-class="image" data-entity-id="43599" data-entity-method="embed" data-image-align="center" data-image-caption="" data-image-selection='{"width":1568,"height":800,"x1":0,"y1":0,"x2":1568,"y2":800}'><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_800,w_1568,x_0,y_0/c_scale,w_1080/v1422570648/0215-0215-pnca-rnd-newcommonsinterior_vswim4.jpg"><figcaption class="mceNonEditable"><div class="c-media__attributions mceNonEditable"><p>Image: <a class="attribution-link" href="/producers/courtesy-allied-works">Courtesy Allied Works</a></p></div></figcaption></figure>
<p class="p1">PNCA began as a sketch club in 1891 and evolved, by 1909, into the Portland Art Museum School, the first such art education center on the West Coast. In 1994 the college split from the museum, and four years later it moved to a Pearl District warehouse. During his 12 years at the helm, Manley launched the school’s first grad programs and landed the largest contribution to an arts organization in Oregon history: $15 million from the late patron Hallie Ford. PNCA now boasts more than 100 full- and part-time faculty, nearly 500 undergrad and graduate students, and more than 1,500 continuing-education students. Manley wants 1,000 full-time students by 2018. </p>
<p class="section_title"><span class="s1"><strong>the neighborhood: portland’s new creative heartland?</strong></span></p>
<p class="p2"><span class="s2"><strong>Portland design impresario John Jay long promoted a “Creative Corridor” stretching from Wieden &amp; Kennedy to the University of Oregon’s White Stag building. The 511 boldly anchors that vision. Now: will the city and property owners strengthen or dilute the energy?</strong></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<figure class="c-align--right c-media c-media--image mceNonEditable" data-entity-class="image" data-entity-id="43601" data-entity-method="embed" data-image-align="right" data-image-caption="" data-image-selection='{"width":800,"height":802,"x1":0,"y1":0,"x2":800,"y2":802}'><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_802,w_800,x_0,y_0/c_scale,w_640/v1422570651/0215-pncamap_bdiwsh.gif"></figure>
<span style="font-size: 15px;">PNCA has the beginnings of an urban campus in its Museum of Contemporary Craft (</span><strong style="font-size: 15px;">1</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">) and its first dormitory, the ArtHouse (</span><strong style="font-size: 15px;">2</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">).</span>
</li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: 15px;">Will the city-owned parking lot (</span><strong style="font-size: 15px;">3</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">) to the 511’s west become the next park block, an experimental art park—or just remain a revenue-spinning parking lot?</span>
</li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: 15px;">The Portland Development Commission owns several properties nearby, including the vacant block across Broadway (</span><strong style="font-size: 15px;">4</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">). Will the agency help spur creative momentum? </span>
</li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: 15px;">Local art collector, civic-do-gooder, and mega-landowner Jordan Schnitzer owns a three-quarter block to the southeast (</span><strong style="font-size: 15px;">5</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">)—perfect for his world-renowned collection of prints?</span>
</li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: 15px;">The blue-collar-themed boutique Hand-Eye Supply recently opened directly across NW Glisan Street from the 511 (</span><strong style="font-size: 15px;">6</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">).</span>
</li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: 15px;">Three new hotels are in the works: the Harlow (</span><strong style="font-size: 15px;">7</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">), the Society (</span><strong style="font-size: 15px;">8</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">), and the Globe (</span><strong style="font-size: 15px;">9</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">).</span>
</li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: 15px;">The neighborhood’s first new construction in some time will soon begin, housing the University of Oregon’s business school (</span><strong style="font-size: 15px;">10</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">).</span>
</li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: 15px;">Meanwhile, long-dormant Old Town is exploding with creative and tech companies, including Airbnb, Squarespace, ThinkShout, OpenSesame, Lytics, Athletepath, Netop, Acquia, </span><span style="font-size: 15px;">and others.</span>
</li>
</ul>We take a look at the transformation of Portland's first post office into the growing art school's beating heart.We take a look at the transformation of Portland's first post office into the growing art school's beating heart.http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_800,w_800,x_252,y_0/c_limit,w_640/0215-0215-120820-pnca-exterior_k8mmsh.jpgREPORTAllison Jonestag:www.portlandmonthlymag.com,2005:Article/102652015-02-02T09:00:00-08:002015-02-02T09:00:00-08:00Portlanders Share Stories of Their Worst Dates Ever<figure class="c-align--center c-media c-media--image mceNonEditable" data-entity-class="image" data-entity-id="43584" data-entity-method="embed" data-image-align="center" data-image-caption="" data-image-selection='{"scaling-type":"in-proportion","fill-color":"#000000","height":629,"width":1000,"scale":"100","x1":0,"y1":0,"x2":1000,"y2":629}'><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_629,w_1000,x_0,y_0/c_scale,w_1080/v1422562362/0215-unusual-suspects_oak91x.gif"></figure>
<p class="p1"><strong><em>THE RAT KING</em></strong></p>
<p class="p2">“Once, I (a straight woman) met the only straight guy at Blow Pony. I ended up going home with him, to an apartment near Union Station. As we lay on the futon, he states, ‘I want to introduce you to my friends.’ He crosses to the other side of the balcony and pulls out three of the biggest domestic rats I have ever seen, kisses them all on the mouth, and places them on me. ‘They like to burrow!’ he exclaims. I took that as my cue to GO!”<strong style="font-size: 15px;"><em>—The Almost </em></strong><span class="s2" style="font-size: 15px;"><strong><em>Rat Queen</em></strong></span></p>
<p class="p4"><strong style="font-size: 15px;"><em>THE BABY</em></strong></p>
<p class="p2">“A friend set me up with a friend of his. I called her and we arranged a time that I would come and pick her up. She answered the door in a dark green bathrobe. It was open and she was completely naked underneath. She was also breast-feeding her young daughter. I stood there in silence. After a few seconds, the baby unhooked from her boob, looked at me and said, ‘Hi!’”<strong style="font-size: 15px;"><em>—nkaz</em></strong></p>
<p class="p5"><strong style="font-size: 15px;"><em>THE GOOD SON</em></strong></p>
<p class="p2">“He drove to dinner at the Multnomah Athletic Club, where his parents (yes) bought us dinner in the Men’s Bar. He ordered for me, not having any idea that I don’t eat red meat. After dinner, he drove me through several neighborhoods pointing out homes that his family owned. Back at my car, he cornered me, practically drooling on me. I asked him if I could call his parents to thank them again for dinner and drove off. Longest four hours of my LIFE!”<strong style="font-size: 15px;"><em>—Why bother</em></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><strong style="font-size: 15px;"><em>THE GAMER</em></strong></p>
<p class="p2">“The date began well; we had a lot in common, including that we both liked to play the Magic the Gathering card game. <span class="s4">He invited me to his place </span>to play a round or two. I won each game, and he became increasingly upset. After the seventh game he started bawling loudly, with tears streaming down his cheeks. I felt sorry for him, until he said, ‘I can’t believe I was beaten by a girl.’”<strong style="font-size: 15px;"><em>—Claire</em></strong></p>
<p class="p6"><strong style="font-size: 15px;"><em>THE DENTIST</em></strong></p>
<p class="p2">“Dentist wannabe decided to deliver a 20-minute lecture on TMJ, loud enough for the entire restaurant to hear, while standing at the table so he could use my jaw for demonstration.”<strong style="font-size: 15px;"><em>—Gretchen</em></strong></p>If you think Valentine's Day is hellish, at least you can be glad you're not going out with these romantic offenders.If you think Valentine's Day is hellish, at least you can be glad you're not going out with these romantic offenders.http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_629,w_628,x_336,y_0/c_limit,w_640/0215-unusual-suspects_oak91x.gifWE ASKED, YOU OVERSHAREDAllison Jonestag:www.portlandmonthlymag.com,2005:Article/103792015-02-02T08:00:00-08:002015-02-02T08:00:00-08:00The Startling Truth About Pay Inequality in Oregon<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="section_title">Mind the Gap!</span></p>
<p><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_306,w_635,x_0,y_0/c_fit,w_635/77cents_ncusjk.jpg" alt=""></p>
<div style="float: left; width: 300px;">
<p>**<em>This is a national average for women holding full-time, year-round jobs. This includes Americans across race, age, and occupation.</em></p>
</div>
<div style="float: right; width: 300px;">
<p>**<em>This is a state average for women holding full-time, year-round jobs. This includes Oregonians across race, age, and occupation.</em></p>
</div>
<p><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_218,w_640,x_0,y_0/c_fit,w_640/64cents_n34d88.jpg" alt=""></p>
<p>**<em>This is a national average for women holding a full-time, year-round job in the health diagnosing and treating practitioners field. Women hold 69.5% of positions in this field. The median income for men in this category is $98,100. The median income for women in this category is $62,600.</em></p>
<p><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_284,w_640,x_0,y_0/c_fit,w_640/64cents-2_hh5v1y.jpg" alt=""></p>
<p>**<em>This is a national average for African American women holding full-time, year-round jobs.</em></p>
<p><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_183,w_640,x_0,y_0/c_fit,w_640/60cents_ff1eeh.jpg" alt=""></p>
<p> **<em>This is a national average based on men and women with children holding full-time, year-round jobs.</em></p>
<p><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_177,w_640,x_0,y_0/c_fit,w_640/fulltime_gp5mi7.jpg" alt=""></p>
<div style="float: left; width: 300px;">
<p><span style="color: #000000;">**</span><em>This is the state average for white men holding full-time, year-round jobs in any occupation.</em></p>
</div>
<div style="float: right; width: 300px;">
<p><em>**This is a state average for white women holding full-time, year-round jobs in any occupation.</em></p>
</div>
<p><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_180,w_639,x_0,y_0/c_fit,w_639/years_yd5xab.jpg" alt=""></p>
<div style="float: left; width: 300px;">
<p><em>**This law prohibits wage discrimination based on gender</em></p>
</div>
<div style="float: right; width: 300px;">
<p><em>**“Pay parity” is defined as equal pay for equal work. If the gap continues to narrow at the current rate, women are projected to finally earn the same money for doing the same job with the same experience as male counterparts in 2056. Narrowing the wage gap between white men and women of color/mothers will take even longer.</em></p>
</div>
<p><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_233,w_640,x_0,y_0/c_fit,w_640/73percent_t8xpya.jpg" alt=""></p>
<div style="float: left; width: 300px;">
<p><em>**This percentage represents all Oregon mothers (across marital status, number of children, occupation, age, and race) who work full or part time.</em></p>
</div>
<div style="float: right; width: 300px;">
<p><em>**There are currently 24 female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies—the highest number recorded since Fortune began recording CEO gender in 1998.</em></p>
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<p>**<em>This represents the percentage of unmarried mothers who are the sole breadwinner for their household whose incomes fall below the poverty threshold. The Census Bureau considers income, family size, number of young children, and age of householder to determine poverty level. An example poverty threshold income: $18,769 for a household with two children under 18.</em></p>
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<p><em>**This is a national estimate. The pay gap between men and women with children is far greater than the gap between men and women without children. Additionally, the gap between women with children and women without children is larger than the gap between childless men and childless women. Sociologists coined the term ‘the motherhood penalty’ to refer to this pay reduction that women experience after having children.</em></p>
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<div style="clear: both;">For more information or to look at further statistics about pay inequality, visit <a href="http://familyforwardoregon.org" target="_blank">familyforwardoregon.org</a>, <a href="http://nationalpartnership.org" target="_blank">nationalpartnership.org</a>, and <a href="http://catalyst.org" target="_blank">catalyst.org</a>.</div>
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<p class="Body"><em>Our March issue is all about the multifaceted force of nature that is the <a href="http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/oregonwoman">#OregonWoman</a>—now we want to hear from you. Who inspires you? What are you passionate about? What is your biggest challenge? What is wonderful about being a woman in Oregon, and what could be better? Share your ideas, inspirations, and photos on Twitter and Instagram using <a href="http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/oregonwoman">#OregonWoman</a> and we'll round up the highlights over the next month.</em> </p>
<p> </p>Did you know that women in Oregon earn 79¢ for every dollar a man earns? We offer an annotated guide to the shocking numbers behind our state's wage gap.Did you know that women in Oregon earn 79¢ for every dollar a man earns? We offer an annotated guide to the shocking numbers behind our state's wage gap.http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_253,w_254,x_0,y_4/c_limit,w_640/201503_payInequality_pdxMonthly_j7ylzw.jpg#OREGONWOMANAllison Jonestag:www.portlandmonthlymag.com,2005:Article/103812015-02-02T08:00:00-08:002015-02-02T08:00:00-08:00An Open Letter to the Women of Oregon, from Governor Barbara Roberts<figure class="c-align--center c-media c-media--image mceNonEditable" data-entity-class="image" data-entity-id="44034" data-entity-method="embed" data-image-align="center" data-image-caption="" data-image-selection='{"width":1000,"height":622,"x1":0,"y1":0,"x2":1000,"y2":622}'><img src="http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_622,w_1000,x_0,y_0/c_scale,w_1080/v1424725638/women_essayillos-01_rbiuea.jpg" alt=""><figcaption class="mceNonEditable">
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<p>Image: <a class="attribution-link" href="/producers/amy-martin">Amy Martin</a></p>
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<p><span class="boldcaps">In 2012 Oregon celebrated</span> the 100th anniversary of our state’s women gaining the right to vote. Today, we can legitimately celebrate a state—our state—where women have gained success and leadership across a broad spectrum of arenas.</p>
<p>Yet it is my belief that if these successes are going to continue and to expand, we must learn the history of the women who blazed the trails on which we now tread. The deeper our understanding of those women, their voices and their actions, the better is our preparation to become “history-makers” in our time.</p>
<p>Oregon history offers countless lessons that remain timely and profound. I am reminded of the hardships of so many of our tribal women; the endurance of the women of the Oregon Trail; the persistence of the suffragists who fought through 40 years and five ballot losses to win the Oregon vote; the bravery of the women who fought for family-planning rights; the strength of the women who kept farms alive and built ships at home while their men fought abroad in World War II; the tenacity of women who challenged their right to a place in our law schools, our medical schools, our legislature; the scar tissue earned by Oregon women who held the first judicial positions, the first statewide offices, the first seats in our congressional delegation.</p>
<p>Hardship. Endurance. Persistence. Bravery. Strength. Tenacity. Scar tissue. This is our history. These are our role models. They should be our standard for women’s leadership.</p>
<p>For let there be no mistake about the hurdles women in this nation still face. Here we are in Year 2015, and the battle for “equal pay for equal work” continues. Could any issue be more clear, more logical, more fair? And 42 years after the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade, we watch state after state add demeaning restrictions and roadblocks to safe medical access for this most personal of decisions for women.</p>
<p>And when the 2014 election results finally crossed the “100 Women in Congress” threshold, the excitement was quickly followed by a major magazine cover asking, “104 Women in Congress. Does it Matter?” You think?! Women make up less than 20 percent of Congress. Would the women who fought for decades to gain women’s suffrage think that threshold was worth the battles? How would our long-ago role models evaluate not just our gains, but our “slippage”—our unending battles for equal pay, for congressional seats, for child care for working mothers?</p>
<p>Historians could easily cite the voices of our foremothers as inspiration as we face the ongoing challenges for women’s equity and our place at the table. Here are four illuminating quotations:</p>
<p>Suffragist Susan B. Anthony made clear that our voices, our words, must be strong and determined. She declared, “Never another season of silence.”</p>
<p>Oregon Supreme Court Justice Betty Roberts demonstrated the multigenerational legacy of women’s rights work with her words, “I’m not passing on my torch. Get your own torch.”</p>
<p>Amelia Earhart reminded us of the importance of staying committed when she declared, “In soloing—as in other activities—it is easier to start something than it is to finish it.” <br>Eleanor Roosevelt gave us the defining statement about women’s equality: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”</p>
<p>I’ve put my thoughts on paper regarding our women in a year that, for me, has historical significance. Year 2015 is the 25th anniversary of my 1990 election as Oregon’s first woman governor. The quotations I have shared remind me that we still have unfinished work. We must find our voices. We must again light our torches and make clear our agenda for women’s equity.</p>
<p>Our hopes are not at all unreasonable: Equal pay for equal work. Personal decision-making about family planning. Closer to balanced numbers of men and women in Congress and state legislative bodies. Child care for working parents. And perhaps, one day, a second woman governor and, after more than 50 years, a second woman US Senator from Oregon.</p>
<p>Our state motto can be our guide: “She Flies With Her Own Wings.”</p>
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<p class="Body"><em>Our March issue is all about the multifaceted force of nature that is the <a href="http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/oregonwoman">#OregonWoman</a>—now we want to hear from you. Who inspires you? What are you passionate about? What is your biggest challenge? What is wonderful about being a woman in Oregon, and what could be better? Share your ideas, inspirations, and photos on Twitter and Instagram using <a href="http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/oregonwoman">#OregonWoman</a> and we'll round up the highlights over the next month.</em></p>Oregon Governor Barbara Roberts (1991-1995) on the hardship, endurance, bravery, and strength required to make a difference.Oregon Governor Barbara Roberts (1991-1995) on the hardship, endurance, bravery, and strength required to make a difference.http://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c_crop,h_622,w_622,x_189,y_0/c_limit,w_640/women_essayillos-01_rbiuea.jpg#OREGONWOMANAllison Jones